Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Exciting times at Casa de Crafty Dad these days. For the past several weeks, there's been lots (and I mean LOTS) of conversations where the subject is dogs, puppies, and all things Canine-related. We certainly miss our Hershey Girl and she will never be replaced. She holds a very special place in our hearts.

Hershey Girl

Rather than get another Lab, we've been looking for Weimaraner puppies and found a reputable breeder in Wisconsin. Crafty Mom has been corresponding with the "Puppy Lady" and has made arrangements to go pick one out. Woo Hoo! So...it's road trip time for Crafty Mom and the boys.

Here's a Weimaraner puppy video I found on You Tube:

Which pup will the boys (and Mama) pick out?

Will it be Blizzard, Spot, Frosty or Burleigh?

Here are some photos the breeder sent us. They are all good looking pups aren't they?

Monday, June 22, 2009

I snapped this photo at one of our resting spots in NC. This beautiful creature stopped just long enough for me to capture it (digitally). After just a tiny bit of "photo-doctoring-up" (using Picnik), I'm happy with it.

You may have noticed the Summit Group 'link' on my sidebar (over there....in the right-hand column). Yes, I am an official Independent Watkins Consultant. Watkins has been around since 1868 and has some fantastic products. My great-grandfather was a "Watkins Man" back in the day. I have a black and white photograph of him standing by his car/truck with the Watkins logo on the door panel. It's a classic.

100% Organic Spices

Please visit my online store and take a look at all the good stuff Watkins offers. They are probably most famous for their cinnamon and vanilla. But they have LOTS of other products too. If you're looking for some environmentally-friendly cleaning products, Watkins has them. We've been using the All-Purpose Cleaner, the Window Cleaner, the Tub and Tile Cleaner and the Toilet Bowl Cleaner for the past few weeks. They are fantastic! Seriously...no nasty smells. And they WORK! I really like the Aloe and Green Tea formula. It has a nice, fresh smell to it.

I would sure appreciate your support. Please let me know if you'd like a free catalog. I'd be happy to put one in the mail to you!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Hi Bloggers! Here's a quick collage I put together of our nature walk during our recent trip to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. I highly recommend the audio (headset) tour. Otherwise, you'll see a WHOLE bunch of stuff...but you won't know what you're looking at!

[Click on the photo for a larger (much better) version.]

More photos later. Photos were not allowed inside the house. But...I got several of the outside. You'll see them soon. Photos above are from the beautiful gardens and walking paths. It was perfect weather for a long, long (longer-than-we-thought) walk.

Monday, June 08, 2009

Hey...hope you had a great weekend. We certainly did. Spent Friday and Saturday nights at the lake. Weather was a bit iffy, but pretty much okay. We're still dealing with bare floors in the kitchen of the park model. The estimate to have it replaced was enormously-large a bit more than we expected, so we're going to do it ourselves. (Oh boy!)

Son No. 2 went swimming while Crafty Mom and Dad sat in the sun and looked at magazines. Which just happens to be one of my favorite things to do. It is total relaxation for me. And the wife and I needed some of that. My wife cooked chicken over the open campfire and it was EXCELLENT. As she was tending to it, Grandma and Grandpa Cook (no relation to either of us, but two of the nicest people we've met at the lake. My kids have 'adopted' them and we call them Grandma and Grandpa) pulled into our site on their golf cart and gave us some wonderful chocolate dessert. Not sure what all was in it, but it had a yummy crust with pecans or walnuts...chocolate pudding and Cool Whip. It was g-o-o-d. Along with chicken, we had green beans, a baked potato and a very simple (I like simple) salad of Romaine lettuce hearts.

Sunday was the family celebration for Son No. 2's birthday. He turned NINE. (Holy cow, where does the time go? Famous parental question, right?) This fall we'll have a high school freshman and a fourth-grader living with us. Geez. He got lots of greenbacks which (I'm sure) he'll spend on baseball, football or basketball trading cards.

The family get-together was a hit. The weather cooperated so we spent the afternoon outside on the patio. The kids played on the swings, kicked a soccer ball around and had a great time. The grown-ups sat around and chit chatted about all the things grown-ups chit chat about. Then it was time for ice cream and cake. Son No. 2 is a big Colts fan, so the cake was white icing with blue trim and a Colts emblem on it. He loved it!

Here are few photos from the weekend:

[Click on the collage for a larger version.]

1. Rose bush that's LOADED with blooms this year.2. A peony bush...almost all done with blooms..but still pretty enough for a photo.3. Up close and personal: peony flower.4. Sleepy boys on Sunday morning at the lake.5. Crafty Mama's open-fire chicken (YUM-O).6. Grandma Cook's chocolate dessert (also YUM-O).7. Son No. 2 in the pool.8. Salsa, chips and some other goodies.9. Simple: Romaine lettuce (love that stuff).

Friday, June 05, 2009

It's been a long, tough week. I'm ready for some veg-out time at the lake. Crafty Mom could use some relaxation time too. She's had a hectic week too. And we've both been a bit stressed/worried about our oldest son being in DC for the week. He was such a good guy and called us each day. I'm not sure if he got homesick or not. I am sure that (being a 14 year old) he'll never confess it if he was! That's okay.

I need your help. I'm going to kick the Crafty Dad blog up a notch or too. You can help by signing up for the mailing list (over there in the right-hand column). I'm going to do some monthly give-aways and the only way you'll be eligible is if you've signed up. So...c'mon. Take a minute and sign up, would you?

If you're planning a give-away, let me know and I'll give you some free advertising. I figure if we work together, it'll be a lot more fun for all involved. Make sense? Yes! I'm working on a blog button for my giveaways and will appreciate you grabbing the code and popping it into your blog.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

These are not the big, double peonies that you might be familiar with. These are a simple,single-type of flower. But simple is good. And since they only last for a few days, I thought I'd take a few shots of them. Then...I uploaded the photo to Picnik and played around with it. I'm a Premium Member so I get some spiffy extras to use.

I used the Fancy Focus tool and highlighted the three blooms. Notice how they stand out from the rest of the picture? Picnik is a fantabulous tool. And the really cool part is, the basic version is free. You can do some really great things to your photos. You can use the 'auto correction' feature, crop photos, put all kinds of frames around them, make collages, put text on them. There are digitial 'stickers' that you can put on photos to make photo greeting cards, etc., etc., I use Picnik to fix up most of the photos that I use in my Etsy shop. Go check it out! But beware: it can be addictive. OH...and you can link your Flickr photos to it too.

Oh, by the way, Son No. 1 is back from his Washington DC trip. He's pooped! Crafty Mom and I are so glad that he had a great time and returned home safely. He took TONS of pictures and I'll try to get some of them posted in the next few days. He's just like the old man: put a camera in his hand and watch out!